Non-uniform programmable integrated photonic waveguide meshes

Introduction

Programmable integrated photonics (PIP) is an emerging new paradigm that aims at designing common integrated optical hardware resource configurations, capable of implementing an unconstrained variety of functionalities by suitable programming. The work carried out within the Advanced Grant ERC-ADG-2016-741415 UMWPCHIP, of which I was the Principal Investigator, allowed me to lay the foundation for the first technical stages of a novel revolutionary concept, the Field Programmable Photonic Gate Array (FPPGA), developed in the context of a Proof-of-concept Grant ERC-POC-2019-859927-FPPAs.

Current Challenges

Currently, the core of the processor is a uniform 2D programmable photonic waveguide mesh, formed by replicating hexagonal unit cells. This layout suffers from limited flexibility in the spectral period and sampling time values. The challenge is to develop and demonstrate solutions that overcome these limitations and which can be easily incorporated into existing mesh designs.

Project Goals

In NP-Mesh, I aim to demonstrate and validate the concept of non-periodic programmable photonic integrated waveguide meshes formed by embedding defect cells into the otherwise uniform 2D hexagonal mesh. Including defect cells solves the problem of spectral period limitation through the exploitation of the Vernier effect, as well as the sampling time resolution limitation of the uniform waveguide mesh.

Working Roadmap

My working roadmap will include:

1. Carrying out the required research activities linked to the development of the proposed technical concepts.
2. Validating them through outsourced chip fabrication in an external foundry followed by measurement and characterization experiments carried out in my lab at UPV.
3. Generating the new intellectual property rights (IPRs) for the new results via patent writing and application, and transferring the new IPR to the spinoff company iPronics, which I co-founded three years ago with the help of ERC-POC-2019-859927-FPPAs.